A public preview of Windows 8.1 will be made available for consumers to try out during Microsoft's BUILD conference, which will take place from June 26 to June 28.

Windows 8.1 is expected to bring back some semblance of the iconic "Start" button and will make an effort to ensure that customer feedback doesn't go unanswered. "We are being very real about what needs to change and changing it as thoughtfully and quickly as we can," said Windows Chief Julie Larson-Green.

Microsoft's Julie Larson-Green

“We're not sitting back and saying, they will get used to it. We've considered a lot of different scenarios to help traditional PC users move forward as well as making usability that much better on all devices."

Win8 doesn't do anything faster than win7 that is humanly noticeable. The bootup is a hybrid sleep boot mode, but win7 wakes up in 2 seconds. And with Linux, it boots up as fast as win8 (I'm comparing this info with my own hardware as I murdered win8 with LinuxMint ).

I enhanced my win7 with : Teracopy and Better Explorer to get Win8 enhancements FOR free! And without the ugly win8 flat desktop look.

A thing that makes MS SUCK is that IE10 on win7 is flattened... What then F... Win8 BASIC skin doesn't belong on win7 thank you!

win8 uses multiple cores better(4+). The improvement is not all that much but it's an improvement.

The task manager in win8 is clearly better.

I can care less about flat looks or not. I want a good GUI that facilitates multitasking instead of hindering it.

And why the hell do I have to go to BottomRightCornerSlideScreen/Settings/power/shut down to turn off my PC. Shutting down should not be in settings. I thought I was stupid when I can't find the power button but a lot of people had the same problem when they first use it also.

It doesn't sound like 8.1 provides a true fix to that...they've apparently come up with some sort of mish-mash of Start menu and the Fisher-Price UI.

The technically ept will install Start8 or something similar and get along witn Win8 just fine. But the vast majority of the market is technically inept - even to the point of doing something that seems so ridiculously simple to DT readers. So if 8.1 doesn't restore a *real* Start menu and desktop, fully, with the absolute ability to avoid ever even seeing the Metrosexual UI, it's not going to help.

I like your posts on almost everything but Windows 8. You really devalue yourself by using terms like "Metrosexual UI". That's fine, you don't like it. We all get it. Some of us do though.

Is it an improvement over the start menu on the desktop/laptop? Not really. But I use the start menu/start screen once or twice a day. And that's how it was on Win 7. So it really doesn't impact me. Is it an improvement on something like the Surface? Without a doubt. It's AWESOME on a device like that.

Win 8 is rough around the edges. But it was a smart move. Will MS be able to execute before competition catches up and realizes that a multi-UI system really is the future. My tablet can dock and run with my normal keyboard/monitor/mouse configuration for an office workspace. Or it can run as a tablet. Or I can use it as an ultrabook with the type cover and BT mouse. It's a ridiculously good design and will likely be the direction computing as a whole moves. I do believe someone, be it MS or someone else, needs to take it a step further. Modern interfaces like Thunderbolt bring the idea of external GPU/CPU power to a state that it's practical. I can see plugging in a tablet and having it be every bit as fast as a desktop. And I am extremely excited to see that come to fruition.

Win 8 is the right direction but there were a few things that could have been handled better. But I don't believe that keeping around the old way of doing things is always the right answer either. Why spend development resources to keep something that needs to be phased out eventually. And since people are happy with Windows 7 now was a good time to move forward. Nothing wrong with people who want to keep Win 7.

quote: The technically ept will install Start8 or something similar and get along witn Win8 just fine. But the vast majority of the market is technically inept - even to the point of doing something that seems so ridiculously simple to DT readers. So if 8.1 doesn't restore a *real* Start menu and desktop, fully, with the absolute ability to avoid ever even seeing the Metrosexual UI, it's not going to help.

You keep saying this, but the reality is that you are wrong. It's only the technically ept individuals who have a problem with Metro at all. People who are technically inept love Metro, and they also happen to be the majority of the market.

quote: You keep saying this, but the reality is that you are wrong. It's only the technically ept individuals who have a problem with Metro at all. People who are technically inept love Metro, and they also happen to be the majority of the market.

If that were true, sales would have barely declined at all.

However...sales have dropped through the basement. And I know a *lot* of technically inept PC users...and not a single one has ever described Win8 in terms other than disgust.

There is not a single doubt that unskilled PC users HATE Win8 even more than skilled IT folks. The reality of the PC market would be wildly different if that wasn't the case.